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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26419360">Like Breathing</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kynikos/pseuds/kynikos'>kynikos</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Fuck Ozai seriously, Gen, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Tea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:20:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>791</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26419360</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kynikos/pseuds/kynikos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a year since Zuko was sent on his mission to find the Avatar. He's upset. Iroh gives him tea.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Iroh &amp; Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Like Breathing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Good tea is its own reward.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>‘Prince Zuko. You're up early.’</p><p>‘I couldn’t sleep.’ Zuko stood at the rail, staring out over the ocean, clothes disheveled and ponytail askew.</p><p>‘Would you like some tea?’</p><p>Zuko’s shoulders slumped, almost as if in defeat. He turned to look at where Iroh sat, cross-legged, before his table. On the table a pair of teapots and three cups were placed, with various tea-related accoutrements laid around them.</p><p>‘Yes,’ Zuko said, kneeling beside Iroh. His uncle smiled.</p><p>‘I have ginseng and jasmine. Which would you prefer?’</p><p>‘I don’t know,’ Zuko said. He rubbed his eyes. ‘Whatever you think.’</p><p>‘If you are tired, ginseng is best.’ Iroh lifted the lid of one of the teapots and breathed in the steam. ‘Ah. Smell that? This will make you feel better.’ He tipped the teapot towards Zuko, who took a quick sniff and shrugged.</p><p>Iroh slowly poured the tea through a strainer into one of the cups. ‘Here you are, prince.’ He poured a cup for himself and sipped it carefully. ‘Perfect, don’t you think?’</p><p>‘Why is he so hard to find?’ Zuko asked, eyes fixed again on the ocean. ‘He’s the avatar. We should have heard of him by now. People should be talking about him everywhere.’</p><p>‘We will find him when we find him. There is nothing you can accomplish by giving yourself a headache about it. Drink your tea, prince. It is healthier than worrying.’</p><p>Zuko took a sip from his cup, still looking out at the ocean. Iroh sighed. ‘There is something else on your mind.’</p><p>‘Mind your own business, uncle.’</p><p>‘If you think that my nephew is not my business, you are very mistaken. Tell me what's wrong.’</p><p>The tea wasn’t strong, but Zuko covered his face and coughed for a moment. When he straightened up he wiped his eyes and set the cup on the table.</p><p>‘It has been one year,’ he said, face set and hands crossed almost formally in his lap. ‘I just… I wonder how it is. At home.’</p><p>‘Ah.’ Iroh sipped his own tea.</p><p>‘Have we received any messages?’</p><p>Iroh gestured at the open sea around them. ‘From where? We are in the middle of the ocean.’</p><p>Zuko nodded, lips tight. ‘Yes. I know.’</p><p>‘I'm sorry, prince Zuko. But I'm sure… I'm sure that your father is thinking of you.’</p><p>‘It won’t be long.’ Zuko stood and went back to the railing. ‘Soon we will find him. I will find him, I will restore my honor, I will return home.’</p><p>‘Yes, I know,’ Iroh said. ‘We will find him…’</p><p>‘When we find him! I know! But I need it to be <em>soon</em>…’</p><p>‘I was going to say soon.’ Iroh joined Zuko at the railing, hands resting calmly in his sleeves. Zuko’s hands were clenched on the railing, and the sea spray was steaming around them. Iroh laid his hand on Zuko’s shoulder. It was a reach up, since Zuko was about a head and a half taller than he was.</p><p>‘I will win the pride of my father,’ Zuko insisted, as if arguing with someone.</p><p>‘You know,’ Iroh said, watching the water fall away from the steel sides of the ship. ‘The very first time I saw you, you had just been born. Ozai let me hold you. You pulled my hair – you pulled my hair very hard, as a matter of fact.’</p><p>Zuko smiled despite himself.</p><p>‘Your father was very proud of you then. And he is proud of you now.’ He patted Zuko on the shoulder. ‘A fire gives off sparks along with the ash.’ He went back to the table and sat down.</p><p>‘What does that even mean?’ Zuko asked, but for once there was no real bite in his voice.</p><p>‘It is not easy to be apart from your child,’ Iroh said quietly. ‘That is all.’ He refilled his cup from the teapot, straining the tea so as not to get shreds of ginseng in his cup, and sipped at it. ‘Come, now, prince. Your tea is getting cold.’</p><p>‘Soon,’ Zuko whispered to the horizon, and pushed himself away from the railing and rejoined his uncle at the table.</p><p>‘He is very proud of you,’ Iroh said again.</p><p>‘You really think so?’</p><p>‘You have great potential as a firebender. You are a leader. You have strength and determination. And what is most important, you have a good heart.’ Iroh touched his chest. ‘That is what really matters.’</p><p>‘Thank you, uncle,’ Zuko said, voice thick.</p><p>Iroh laughed, suddenly.</p><p>‘What’s so funny?’</p><p>‘Nothing. It is just that… I think that you will make a very unique Fire Lord.’</p><p>Iroh tapped Zuko’s cup with a finger, and the tea – which had begun to cool – steamed to life again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Writing? Hell no. We don’t write. What we do is stare at the screen for minutes at a time, completely frozen, while random song lyrics float through our minds. Now, I can’t speak for everyone, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that one of the biggest parts of what happens when we ‘write’ is in fact reading, either what we’ve written in the past or something someone else has written.</p><p>This (short short) fic was essentially a word vomit, forcing a bunch of <i>stuff</i> out of my head. Definitely not what I wanted to be writing; but something low-stakes that I could get through to loosen myself up for other stuff. </p><p>(Barely relevant but something that just occurred to me: dim sum is essentially the Cantonese version of an English tea, yeah? Both involve a lot of little foods, sweet and savory, and tea is a big part of both. Cool. Now I want dim sum.)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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